Author
Topic: Reading/Book Pet Peeves (Read 308251 times)

This is more of a writer's peeve than a reader peeve, but it fits in with love triangle thing. I've been writing an ongoing fanfiction series. My main character is madly in love with her husband and is very happily married. Yet I've had a number of people who wanted her to cheat on him. Which just boggles my mind to no end when an action like that is clearly not in her nature. Besides the other "potential bedmates" think her husband is the bravest man alive for being married to her and thinks she's a fine friend, but that's it.

I don't answer the requests, they just go into the circular file. And I'll continue as I've been going on. But I still boggle when I get a new request like that.

Who even does that? I mean, I'll regularly respond to series I like, but I would never presume to tell the author what to do with his/her stories! It's not my character to say what to do with it. If I don't like it, I can go read something else.

I hate it when the female lead has guys after her, but isn't "aware" of their interests. Instead, she is constantly mentioning/saying how guys just don't "like her that way" and how she's a plain jane, etc.

Meanwhile 2+ guys are constantly asking her out, wooing her, etc.

It's just not believable and makes me want to beat the chick up for false modesty.

Who even does that? I mean, I'll regularly respond to series I like, but I would never presume to tell the author what to do with his/her stories! It's not my character to say what to do with it. If I don't like it, I can go read something else.

Wow, my head hurts now.

Glad I'm not the only one who feels that way. From what I've seen on FanFiction.net, quite a few writers get unreasonable requests.

Sometimes I will fill a request, but only if it's something I can comfortably fit into the setting I'm working on.

Most of my requests are along the lines of "This is great, you should write a sequel with XYZ!" Except I already wrote four sequels, including XYZ, several years ago. And they're all posted on the same page, so if they found the original, they would've seen the sequels if they just read the list of titles. Oookay, I'll get right on that. (Sidenote: It's WEIRD getting random feedback to a ten year old story! And ones complaining I got a fact wrong, in fanfiction, when that fact wasn't revealed until a few years after I wrote the fic.)

I hate it when the female lead has guys after her, but isn't "aware" of their interests. Instead, she is constantly mentioning/saying how guys just don't "like her that way" and how she's a plain jane, etc.

Meanwhile 2+ guys are constantly asking her out, wooing her, etc.

It's just not believable and makes me want to beat the chick up for false modesty.

And this is why I firmly believe that romantic movies and books promote violence. I have yet to see a romantic comedy without suppressing a strong urge to smack someone.

I hate it when the female lead has guys after her, but isn't "aware" of their interests. Instead, she is constantly mentioning/saying how guys just don't "like her that way" and how she's a plain jane, etc.

Meanwhile 2+ guys are constantly asking her out, wooing her, etc.

It's just not believable and makes me want to beat the chick up for false modesty.

And this is why I firmly believe that romantic movies and books promote violence. I have yet to see a romantic comedy without suppressing a strong urge to smack someone.

Oh, I like romances and romantic comedies. But when the female lead complains how awkward and plain she is and she doesn't think guys like her when she's a size 2, everyone is constantly like "*eyeroll* but you're so pretty!" and she has guys falling all over themselves for her, it's just stupid.

I think they do this because they don't want the girl to come off vain, but there's nothing wrong with a woman who is attractive and smart enough to know it rather being SO VERY SHOCKED that guy 2 likes her and why would he and did she lead him on by flirting/hanging out exclusively/etc with him? Oh dear!

Most of my requests are along the lines of "This is great, you should write a sequel with XYZ!" Except I already wrote four sequels, including XYZ, several years ago. And they're all posted on the same page, so if they found the original, they would've seen the sequels if they just read the list of titles. Oookay, I'll get right on that. (Sidenote: It's WEIRD getting random feedback to a ten year old story! And ones complaining I got a fact wrong, in fanfiction, when that fact wasn't revealed until a few years after I wrote the fic.)

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Glad I'm not the only one who feels that way. From what I've seen on FanFiction.net, quite a few writers get unreasonable requests.

Sometimes I will fill a request, but only if it's something I can comfortably fit into the setting I'm working on.

I sometimes write fanfiction, and a few years back I started a longer multi chapter piece. However, unfortunately writer's block struck, and I began to lose interest in the show the FF was from. I announced to those enquiring that I was very sorry but the piece would not be continued...

...and the next day, I had a message from another user (and not one I knew particularly well either) asking if I would give her the fanfic so she could finish it! As in, I'd send her the files and she'd continue the story under her own pen name!

Now, although writer's block had stopped my process, I knew how I'd have wanted it to end, so I wrote back and told her that her request wouldn't be possible, but if she wanted to write something based on the general theme and concept then to go ahead.

I know FF isn't like original works, and intellectual property can't be claimed (except in *some* very morally grey cases...), but the nerve of the request staggered me.

Well, I think that was a case of someone wanting to write a fanfic of a fanfic.

Logged

My cousin's memoir of love and loneliness while raising a child with multiple disabilities will be out on Amazon soon! Know the Night, by Maria Mutch, has been called "full of hope, light, and companionship for surviving the small hours of the night."

Most of my requests are along the lines of "This is great, you should write a sequel with XYZ!" Except I already wrote four sequels, including XYZ, several years ago. And they're all posted on the same page, so if they found the original, they would've seen the sequels if they just read the list of titles. Oookay, I'll get right on that. (Sidenote: It's WEIRD getting random feedback to a ten year old story! And ones complaining I got a fact wrong, in fanfiction, when that fact wasn't revealed until a few years after I wrote the fic.)

I've got that a few times.

Getting comments on old things is weird, especially since the story I wrote was fueled by lack of sleep, stress from finals, me getting over a nasty case of shingles, and needing a release. I honestly don't remember writing the story, nothing about it was familiar, but it was under my pen name and several friends at the time assured me that I ran it by them before publishing it, which is why their names were listed in the thanks.

I've only just recently gotten into fanfiction (fanfiction.net and archiveofourown.org - are there other sites I should be tracking down?) but I can absolutely see how you'd get comments like that. My first comment on my very first story was about when one of the characters does a magic spell - the commenter thought the flash of light should have been blue, not red, because of COURSE the character would use this other spell instead of the one I wrote. (In a situation where both would have had the same result.)

I really can't see any other way to interpret that than "I know this fandom better than you do!" Since then, I've had to suppress the urge several times to suggest if a particular commenter wants a story to have a specific plot, they're more than welcome to write it themselves - it's not like I own the characters!

I've only just recently gotten into fanfiction (fanfiction.net and archiveofourown.org - are there other sites I should be tracking down?) but I can absolutely see how you'd get comments like that. My first comment on my very first story was about when one of the characters does a magic spell - the commenter thought the flash of light should have been blue, not red, because of COURSE the character would use this other spell instead of the one I wrote. (In a situation where both would have had the same result.)

I really can't see any other way to interpret that than "I know this fandom better than you do!" Since then, I've had to suppress the urge several times to suggest if a particular commenter wants a story to have a specific plot, they're more than welcome to write it themselves - it's not like I own the characters!

Dreamwidth can be good if you're looking for a specific fandom - a lot of fandoms have prompt memes on Dreamwidth, where you can suggest ideas for stories and people might pick them up.

I've only just recently gotten into fanfiction (fanfiction.net and archiveofourown.org - are there other sites I should be tracking down?) but I can absolutely see how you'd get comments like that. My first comment on my very first story was about when one of the characters does a magic spell - the commenter thought the flash of light should have been blue, not red, because of COURSE the character would use this other spell instead of the one I wrote. (In a situation where both would have had the same result.)

I really can't see any other way to interpret that than "I know this fandom better than you do!" Since then, I've had to suppress the urge several times to suggest if a particular commenter wants a story to have a specific plot, they're more than welcome to write it themselves - it's not like I own the characters!

Dreamwidth can be good if you're looking for a specific fandom - a lot of fandoms have prompt memes on Dreamwidth, where you can suggest ideas for stories and people might pick them up.

Be warned, the prompt memes can often be very NSFW

That's the main reason I migrated from fanfiction.net to AO3 - what's the point of fanfiction if there's no smut?

I've only just recently gotten into fanfiction (fanfiction.net and archiveofourown.org - are there other sites I should be tracking down?) but I can absolutely see how you'd get comments like that. My first comment on my very first story was about when one of the characters does a magic spell - the commenter thought the flash of light should have been blue, not red, because of COURSE the character would use this other spell instead of the one I wrote. (In a situation where both would have had the same result.)

I really can't see any other way to interpret that than "I know this fandom better than you do!" Since then, I've had to suppress the urge several times to suggest if a particular commenter wants a story to have a specific plot, they're more than welcome to write it themselves - it's not like I own the characters!

Dreamwidth can be good if you're looking for a specific fandom - a lot of fandoms have prompt memes on Dreamwidth, where you can suggest ideas for stories and people might pick them up.

Be warned, the prompt memes can often be very NSFW

That's the main reason I migrated from fanfiction.net to AO3 - what's the point of fanfiction if there's no smut?

I'm not sure what's worse/funnier, the guy who reviewed one of my slash fics with "that's so g*y", or the chick to went and reviewed another slash fic of mine with a complaint about how horrible people were to be writing non-canon ships, as well as a list of ships that were canon and therefor acceptable*.

*two of these ships involved the boys in my fic, one of them lasted for two days and went scary far before the girl Boy A had been seeing realized he'd been horribly using her and broke completely (she'd been screwed up before then) so I don't see where there's room for fluff-fic of them

Logged

"Heh. Forgive our manners, little creature — that we may well kill and eat you is no excuse for rudeness."

I really can't see any other way to interpret that than "I know this fandom better than you do!" Since then, I've had to suppress the urge several times to suggest if a particular commenter wants a story to have a specific plot, they're more than welcome to write it themselves - it's not like I own the characters!

I have told people to write their stories if they don't like how mine is going.